François de Visscher

François de Visscher is President of de Visscher & Co. in Greenwich, CT. A native of Belgium, Mr. de Visscher has been an active advisor to business owning families for over 20 years, mostly in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. In 1990, he founded de Visscher & Co., one of the world’s leading independent financial consulting and investment banking firms for family and closely-held companies. Over the last 20 years, he and his team have advised over 300 family companies and family offices worldwide on issues of liquidity of shareholders, capital needs of their business, and the stewardship of wealth. Prior to opening his own firm, he was a partner at Smith Barney, where he founded and ran Wall Street’s first Family Business Group. In 1998, Mr. de Visscher founded Family Capital Growth Partners, a private equity fund focused on making equity investments in family-owned and closely-held companies. Mr. de Visscher is the past president of the Family Firm Institute and current Chairman of the European Family Office Conference. He is a full-time contributing editor of Family Business Magazine. Mr. de Visscher is the recipient of the Richard Beckhart Award from the Family Firm Institute, recognizing his valuable contributions to the field of family businesses.